Unbelievable chocolate biscuits, from ‘Biscuits’ by Miranda Gore Brown (Ebury, 2012)
This is another recipe from Miranda Gore Browne’s Biscuit (2012, Ebury Press). Rather like crunchy macaroons, these are light and utterly delicious. They are also very quick and easy to make and though they look fragile they travel well. The next couple of weeks’ church biscuits will be very chocolatey. People often give up chocolate for Lent, so then I shall be making things like lemon polenta biscuits or custardy creams. Am I brave enough to try spicy jaffa biscuits this Saturday…possibly without the chilli. (Recipes for all these biscuits are found in the book mentioned above.)
Makes about 24 medium sized biscuits
Under the biscuits…
plate from Anthropologie
Ingredients
20 g finely chopped walnuts
50 g finely chopped pecans
70 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) finely chopped
35 g cocoa powder, sifted
215 g icing sugar, sifted
2 large egg whites
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
2 large egg whites
Preheat oven to 170 degrees/ 150 degrees for a fan oven/GasMark 3
Line 3 baking trays with baking parchment.
Put the nuts and chocolate into a large bowl. (I bash walnuts and pecans in a plastic bag rather than chop them.) Add icing sugar, cocoa powder and salt (optional) and stir everything round.
Whisk the egg whites until the soft peak stage and then fold the egg whites into the dry ingredients using a metal knife.
Using 2 spoons place dollops of the mixture on baking trays, keeping them well apart.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until dry and cracked on top.
Let them firm up on the trays for about 4 minutes and then, using a palette knife, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
8 Comments
These look fab! I may be tempted to buy Amanda’s book after reading all these recipes. They seem to turn out very well, not underestimating the skills of the baker of course! X
No skill required, the recipes are pretty straightforward. Most, but not all, biscuits are photographed and I really miss those that aren’t shown. I do like to know what I’a aiming for – even if they turn out quite differently.
Those look amazing! As does the plate. Where does Anthropologie find these things?? they always have extraordinary tableware.
The potter Molly Hatch’s blog http://mollyhatch.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/molly-hatch-on-ceramic-arts-daily.html gives some idea of Anthropologie’s sourcing. Another of her posts (which I can’t now find) goes into a bit more detail of her thinking behind her negotiation with them. Obviously a small potter’s workshop can’t produce substantial numbers of items for an international (albeit smallish) store and so she chose to become a product manager for them rather than a producer. Other small producers may well chose different routes.
Spicy jaffa cakes sound even more intriguing!
Yes, though I’m not sure how hints of chilli will go down on a Sunday morning!
Thank you for this recipe for these chocolate biscuits Mary. Roger told me they were really
delicious and I will make them for my grand-daughter when I pick her up starving from school
one day next week. Will also make the cheese biscuits to use up our Christmas Stilton! Marigold.
The chocolate biscuits were very simple, you could make them in your sleep.
I used our Christmas stilton too and was very glad to find a use for it now we’re in February.
Hope you’re recovering, Marigold.